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Shakespeare & Beyond

Shakespeare & Beyond

The Shakespeare & Beyond blog features a wide range of Shakespeare-related topics: the early modern period in which he lived, the ways his plays have been interpreted and staged over the past four centuries, the enduring power of his characters and language, and more.

Edward Dering and the earliest record of an amateur private performance of a Shakespeare play
The Dering manuscript
Shakespeare and Beyond

Edward Dering and the earliest record of an amateur private performance of a Shakespeare play

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emma poltrack

Recently New York Times theater critic Ben Brantley extolled the virtues of reading plays out loud in your living room as a way to while away the COVID-19 time at home. Memories of his own time reading Hamlet as a…

Your guide to streaming Shakespeare in April
Shakespeare and Beyond

Your guide to streaming Shakespeare in April

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Author
Ben Lauer

Here’s how to watch Shakespeare from home this month, featuring performances from your favorite theater companies and films on streaming platforms like Amazon Prime, Hulu, Netflix.

Quiz: What do you know about the life of William Shakespeare?
Shakespeare and his family
Shakespeare and Beyond

Quiz: What do you know about the life of William Shakespeare?

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Shakespeare & Beyond

You may know that April 23 is the day we mark William Shakespeare’s birth and death. But what else do you know about his life and family? Test your knowledge with this quiz.

Savor Shakespeare's sonnets with Patrick Stewart
Shakespeare and Beyond

Savor Shakespeare's sonnets with Patrick Stewart

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Shakespeare & Beyond

Need some quality poetry to help you through these difficult times? Sir Patrick Stewart has been reading a Shakespeare sonnet a day on Twitter.

Prospero's epilogue as Shakespeare's farewell? Excerpt - 'This is Shakespeare' by Emma Smith
Shakespeare and Beyond

Prospero's epilogue as Shakespeare's farewell? Excerpt - 'This is Shakespeare' by Emma Smith

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Shakespeare & Beyond

In this excerpt from her new book, This is Shakespeare (published Mar 31 in the United States), Emma Smith probes the biographical interpretations that readers have layered over Shakespeare’s plays, particularly The Tempest, and how that shapes what we think…

Shakespeare's much-maligned toads and frogs
Toads are described by Edward Topsell
Shakespeare and Beyond

Shakespeare's much-maligned toads and frogs

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Author
Haylie Swenson

Edward Topsell. The historie of serpents… 1608. Folger Shakespeare Library. There may not be a more insulted character in all of Shakespeare’s canon than Richard III. The woman he’s wooing, Anne, calls him a hedgehog. In the very next scene,…

Teller on his magical 'Macbeth' at Folger Theatre
Macbeth and Lady Macbeth with the bloody daggers
Shakespeare and Beyond

Teller on his magical 'Macbeth' at Folger Theatre

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Shakespeare & Beyond

Ian Merrill Peakes (Macbeth), Macbeth, conceived and directed by Teller and Aaron Posner, Folger Theatre in a co-production with Two River Theater Company, 2008. Carol Pratt. “Our premise is that Macbeth is Shakespeare’s supernatural horror thriller, and should be done…

7 excerpts from Shakespeare-inspired novels
Shakespeare and Beyond

7 excerpts from Shakespeare-inspired novels

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Shakespeare & Beyond

Looking to escape in a good book? Take a break from non-fiction, and read these excerpts from Shakespeare-inspired novels that we’ve featured in the past two years on Shakespeare & Beyond. 1. The Assassin of Verona by Benet Brandreth In…

Your guide to streaming Shakespeare in March
Anthony Hopkins in King Lear.
Shakespeare and Beyond

Your guide to streaming Shakespeare in March

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Author
Ben Lauer

Streaming platforms are a great way to get some Shakespeare while you’re social distancing. Here’s what’s streaming now, featuring Anthony Hopkins, Bollywood, “The Twilight Zone,” and more.

Beware the Ides of March — and confusing interpretations of 'Julius Caesar'
Julius Caesar
Shakespeare and Beyond

Beware the Ides of March — and confusing interpretations of 'Julius Caesar'

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Author
Austin Tichenor

Brutus (Anthony Cochrane, left) and Julius Caesar (Michael Sharon, right), Julius Caesar, directed by Robert Richmond, Folger Theatre, 2014. Photo by Teresa Wood. In 1599, in the 40th year of Queen Elizabeth’s reign, when she had no heir or obvious…

"The Taming of the Shrew" on the American stage before "Kiss Me, Kate": An excerpt from "Shakespeare in a Divided America" by James Shapiro
James Shapiro
Shakespeare and Beyond

"The Taming of the Shrew" on the American stage before "Kiss Me, Kate": An excerpt from "Shakespeare in a Divided America" by James Shapiro

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Shakespeare & Beyond

The Taming of the Shrew is often referred to as one of Shakespeare’s “problem plays” because of its controversial depiction of gender roles; last year’s Broadway production of Kiss Me, Kate, the 1948 musical based on The Taming of the…

“As luscious as locusts”: Othello and locust-eaters in the early modern world
locusts
Shakespeare and Beyond

“As luscious as locusts”: Othello and locust-eaters in the early modern world

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Author
Michael Walkden

Hiob Ludolf, Iobi Lvdolfi Dissertatio de locvstis anno praeterito immensa copia in Germania visis, 1694 (Wellcome Images, Public Domain) Folger 250379 (folio) In Act 1, Scene 3 of Othello, the manipulative Iago urges Roderigo, a wealthy Venetian recently disappointed in…

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